Margo landed between his knees in a parody of his early pins. She said, “Your turn!” and raked his face with one gloved hand, then popped him in the Adam’s apple with the other.
”Gak!” Malcolm’s eyes bulged and crossed, simultaneously.
Margo jumped up, grinning impishly, then actually curtsied to Kit. Laughter erupted across the gym, along with sporadic applause. Margo curtsied again to the audience, drawing greater applause. Malcolm rolled over onto his hands and knees, coughed, and wheezed in Kit’s general direction, “Stuff it, Kit. Mamma always taught me never fight with girls. Mamma was usually right.”
Kit managed to return Margo’s triumphant grin with a bored expression. “Thought you were trained in Tai Kwan Do,” he observed dryly. “What was that little flip at the end of Malcolms second fall?”
Margo’s grin widened. “Well, my freshman year in high school, I took judo until I found out they weren’t going to let us roll around on the floor like that with …”
”Don’t be nasty, little girl,” he said mildly.
Margo just laughed. “Next?” she challenged.
He privately conceded her the right to be pleased with herself, but cocky was dangerous. Time for a reality check. He stepped out onto the mat.
Malcolm wheezed, “Wait a sec. Lemme get out of the way”
All across the gym, spectators pressed a little closer. Someone gave Malcolm a cup of water, which he gulped down. He took the ribbing surprisingly well, grinning and unfastening the gloves, pulling off the helmet and rubbing at the base of his skull.